Its the final day of the group stage and we're left with Sweden and Russia vying for the right to play the hottest team in the tournament, the DUTCH. I like Russia in this game. People can talk about Sweden's experience, but Russia has come up big when they've had to each time under Hiddink, why should this be any different. Zlatan's knee is ailing, and this isn't the US Open, you need your knees to play this sport. Granted, Sweden has surprised a few people in this competition with their stellar performances, but I think they're going to rue that David Villa late winner that they could have done without. Ljunberg just doesn't have it anymore, and with Wilhelmsonn (no relation) out on the wing, I don't think they're gonna be able to get the required service to their strikers. Russia 2-1.
I know none of you were expecting Romania to move on, but I really thought they had a shot, and I was increibly dissapointed with their effort yesterday. They just never really got going, they lacked the same confidence they had in qualifying becaue they can play nice, free-flowing attacking football, (I've seen it), but in this tournament, it just wasn't to be. Its easy to pile on Mutu, not only from that missed penalty, but his performance in all three games was less than stellar by his standards. He is just one player, and none of their other attacking players ever looked like scoring, but he was always gonna have to be the one to propel them into the next round. He simply could not do it.
No surprises that the Italians sneak in, they never really lost their confidence, and it showed. If there's any good news for Spain its that Pirlo is suspended, and that Luca Toni still cant find the onion bag, but that's about it. Everyone will be tipping the Italians to knock off the Spaniards, but I'm not so sure yet. We've got a few days to ponder over that one.
One last note about the French, maybe this will seem biased, but I can't see how Sagna and Flamini could not have helped them tremendously against Italy. I won't harp on Domenech any more, and it looks like he won't be fired, but I think he made just about every wrong decision there was to make at least in terms of team selection.
Regardless of the winner today, we're gonna have some tasty quarterfinal ties coming up, with Germany and Portugal kicking things off tommorow.
1 comment:
oh, it had to come from Charisteas, at least Greece didn't go down as the only team in the tournament who didnt score.
Too bad halftime had to come during the midst of this Swedish onslaught. Russia looks a little shaky at the back although its clear they are superior going forward. I'm not rooting for Russia by any stretch, but I think a Russia Dutch matchup will be the pick of the quarterfinals, even as good as the other 3 are. Especially with the Hiddink factor. We'll see if they can finish off the Swedes...
Post a Comment